When Pope Benedict was in Cuba, he added a politically charged word at the last minute

When Pope Benedict was in Cuba, he added a politically charged word at
the last minute
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD, KEVIN G. HALL AND FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
Miami Herald Archives

SANTIAGO, CUBA
From the Miami Herald archives: Five years ago, Pope Benedict visited
Cuba, greeting tens of thousands of Cubans on March 26, 2012 on the
first leg of his visit to the island. The last papal visit to Cuba had
been 14 years before by Pope John Paul II. Here is a look back:

Tens of thousands of Cuban well-wishers greeted Pope Benedict XVI Monday
on the first leg of his whirlwind tour of this communist island, a visit
aimed at building on the spiritual gains that his predecessor, John Paul
II, made during a historic visit 14 years ago.

Thousands lined the road from the airport to catch a glimpse of the
pontiff as he passed by in his “popemobile, ” and tens of thousands more
gathered in Santiago’s Plaza of the Revolution Antonio Maceo for a papal
Mass that began a half-hour late in the unrelenting afternoon sun. But
the hot weather and the delay did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm as
the crowd jumped with joy and roared its approval as a statue of Cuba’s
patron saint made its way through the crowd of a Vatican-estimated
200,000 people.

“This is not political. You see, everybody here is happy, happy, happy,
” said Maria, a Santiago resident who asked that her surname not be used.

For 64-year-old Ana Cajigal and her daughter Mayra, 32, it was a chance
to hear their second pope.

“We are very emotional, happy, we want peace in the world, ” said the
older Cajigal, flanked by her daughter wearing a USA cap, not common in
Cuba. Asked if she was sending a message as she posed for pictures, she
smiled coyly and said, “It’s for the sun.”

Politics, however, were not far away. Shortly after two white doves were
released as the Mass began, a man charged the stage, shouting in
Spanish, “Down with communism.” He was quickly subdued, and none of it
was visible to television viewers. A video showed the crowd striking him
as he was hauled away.

The pope himself made little mention of politics in his homily until the
very end, when he called on Cubans to “strive to build a renewed and
open society, a better society, one more worthy of humanity, and which
better reflects the goodness of God.”

Earlier, Benedict, 84, offered gentle criticism for both Cuba’s
authoritarian government and a U.S. trade embargo on the island that’s
more than 50 years old in remarks he gave when he arrived at Santiago’s
airport at about 2:30 in the afternoon. He was greeted on the airport’s
tarmac by Cuban leader Raúl Castro, who wore a business suit and sported
a red tie.

In his arrival remarks, Benedict said Cubans “wherever they may be” were
in his prayers. He said he prayed for guidance for “the future of this
beloved nation in the ways of justice, peace, freedom, liberty and
reconciliation.”

The word liberty, a politically charged word, was not in the prepared
remarks that had been distributed to reporters in advance of the pope’s
arrival and was added by the pope apparently at the last minute.

Tweaking the Castro government, Benedict said, “Greater progress can and
ought to be made” in relations between the church and state. In a
criticism of the United States and other developed countries, Benedict
said “not a few people regard” the world’s current economic troubles “as
part of a profound spiritual and moral crisis” afflicting the developed
world.

For his part, Castro criticized the five-decade U.S. trade embargo on
Cuba and said Cuba was opening up and “changing all that needs to be
changed.” Like his brother Fidel’s welcoming speech to John Paul II in
1998, Raúl defended the pair’s legacy of healthcare and education for all.

Benedict was scheduled to spend Monday night at a restored home for
retired priests in the small mining town of El Cobre, home to Cuba’s
patron saint, Our Lady of Charity, where he was to sleep on a new
“memory foam” mattress donated by a furniture store in Miami. On Tuesday
morning, he’ll pray at the Our Lady of Charity shrine before leaving for
Havana.

The pope’s trip coincides with the 400th anniversary of the discovery of
the small, doll-like wooden statue of the Virgin Mary bobbing in the Bay
of Nipe after a violent storm. From that day forward, Catholics have
revered her as Our Lady of Charity. For centuries, the faithful have
prayed to Our Lady of Charity, now Cuba’s patron saint, for her help.

“I, too, wish to go to El Cobre to kneel at the feet of the Mother of
God, ” the pope said. “I want to ask her to guide the future of this
beloved nation in the ways of justice, peace, freedom and reconciliation.”

He added: “I carry in my heart the just aspirations and legitimate
desires of all Cubans, wherever they may be, their sufferings and their
joys, their concerns and their noblest desires, those of the young and
the elderly, of adolescents and children, of the sick and workers, of
prisoners and their families, and of the poor and those in need.”

While the German-born Pope Benedict lacks the charm and charisma of his
Polish predecessor, his visit has stirred hopes among Cuban believers
and Cuban exiles in Miami and elsewhere for change in an island nation
that the Castro brothers have ruled for more than five decades, first
Fidel, and then, since 2006, Raul.

“We await the pope with much joy. The Cuban people love the pope. The
Cuban Catholic Church is very proud that the pope has shown a preference
for Cuba, because it’s the second such visit in which a pope has come, ”
said José Julio García, who was interviewed Sunday as his four-truck
caravan, carrying dozens of Roman Catholic worshippers from the city of
Camaguey, paused along the way to Santiago, Cuba’s second-largest city.

Church leaders in Cuba and the United States are walking a fine line. On
one hand, they’re trying to boost the influence of the Catholic Church
in Cuba, which has made gains in followers and charity work since John
Paul II’s 1998 visit. On the other hand, they’re under pressure from
staunchly Catholic Cuban exiles in the United States and Europe who
think the church should use its moral authority to pose a stronger
challenge to Cuba’s autocratic regime and help bring about its end.

Even before he arrived, Pope Benedict caused a stir by suggesting during
his visit to Mexico that Cuba’s Marxist ideology is outdated and the
country needs a new model. Overlooked were his comments that changes
should come slowly and in a deliberate process, not unlike the sorts of
openings already happening in a small scale under Raúl.Castro.

Raúl, 80, who assumed the presidency in 2006 when Fidel, now 85, fell
seriously ill, has expanded self-employment, shrunk government jobs and
scaled back subsidies to state enterprises. The communist government,
however, continues to have firm control over many aspects of public
life, and there are no opposition parties.

The government has been closely following the activities of the Ladies
in White, a small movement of women who wear white and gather at Masses
at Catholic churches in Cuba to protest the treatment of the island’s
prisoners of conscience.

They’re expected to protest sometime during the papal visit to Santiago,
and the dissident group is still holding out hope that it will be able
to speak with the pope when he arrives in Havana on Tuesday.

After a protest march Sunday outside the Santa Rita church in Havana’s
Miramar neighborhood, the group’s leader, Berta Soler, said that all
they wanted was “just a moment” with the pope to discuss human rights.
The Castro government doesn’t want the Ladies in White to attend the
pope’s Mass in Havana’s José Martí Revolution Square, but Soler vowed
that the women will make their presence known.

“We will be there, all of us, dressed in white, ” she said. “We won’t
stop until human rights are respected.”

Whitefield and McClatchy News Service correspondent Hall reported from
Santiago, and Ordonez of McClatchy reported from Havana.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.